Technical Tidbits 10/21: Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Louisville just don't understand ethics

I apologize in advance for the lack of pertinent Georgia Tech material in this post, but the rest of the ACC's members have been up to some ugly things these past few days/weeks/years. Let's take a step back from Paul Johnson's controversial comments of late on focus on what he's done exceptionally well in relation to some other schools: run a clean and respectable program.

It begins with a look up at Virginia, where former player Aidan Howard has come forward with allegations that the Cavalier football staff and team "fostered a culture of bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination" by demeaning him and other freshman players during his time in Charlottesville. Howard accuses various teammates and coaches of condoning things such as initiation fights for freshman players, one of which resulted in a broken orbital bone and subsequent surgery for Howard himself. It's still very early in the investigative proceedings, but what Howard describes would almost certainly be a Title IX violation that could result in some very stiff penalties for Virginia's football team. Things like hazing and other similarly demoralizing initiations are explicitly prohibited and not looked upon kindly by the NCAA.

Meanwhile in Louisville, the NCAA has charged head basketball coach Rick Pitino with major rule violations following a scandal wherein members of the Lousiville staff provided prostitutes to prospects who were on college visits. Though the report does not indicate that Pitino knew what was going on, it does accurately reflect that he should have been paying much closer attention. The report says that he avoided the "lack of institutional control" charge that some felt he may receive for his role (or lack thereof), but I'm really not sure how one could better demonstrate a lack of institutional control than not knowing about prostitutes and strippers being provided to high schools students on a trip to his school. That's a Roy Williams level of obliviousness, if I dare say so once again.

Virginia Tech stirred up some controversy of its own yesterday when some students decided to make a horrendously tone-deaf sign for last night's game against Miami.

When Barstool says this is over the line it's over the line pic.twitter.com/tED2pyfjyZ

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 20, 2016

Fernandez, for those who don't know, was a young Miami Marlins pitcher and Cuban defector who died in a tragic boat accident a few weeks ago prior to a scheduled start against the Atlanta Braves. The Hurricanes wore helmet decals honoring Fernandez during their game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and the wound is still fresh for many in the South Florida community. It may not have been meant maliciously, but putting "RIP" at the end of a sentence doesn't give it some type of strange immunity from criticism. Dumb idea, folks.